As many of you know I have been very critical of heroes ever since, for the last 10 episodes or so, Tim Kring let monkeys write his show. However, he must have come back from a long deserved vacation because this episode was the strongest one since "company man".
Finally we got to see a great nemesis in Parkman's dad. They spent a lot of time setting up how creepy he was, then played him up to be sympathetic, then WHAM, manipulation and deceit. How crazy is that ability? I wonder if he can manipulate what the person sees in the nightmare. Then to think Matt has the same ability. Wow. That scene was awesom, the editing was amazing and the CGI of burned up NY was really cool!
I still have enough complaints to fill a dump truck, but I will stick to the positive in this post. Heroes, you've earned it.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Southland Tales trailer
I can't wait to see this movie. It looks so bazaar (or as Alex would say, stupid). Since Seth hasn't updated his blog in a while and both of us are pumped to see it, check out the trailer.
Monday, October 8, 2007
What would you think?
What would you think if you saw your Senior pastor having a beer in a restaurant. I don't have a problem with it. In fact, I would probably have more respect for him if he did have a beer. (As W. C. Fields once said "I never trust a man who doesn't drink.") So, why don't they drink responsibily in public?
Many people, when I ask this question tell me that Pastors could NEVER drink in public because they hold a higher standard. Okay, fine, I can see that. However, who in church leadership is being the example of a moderate drinker? What, nobody in church drinks? Is the congregation left to decide how much is too much? Is drinking against the church rules? The bible doesn't say never drink ever, never, ever. So, Pastor so-n-so sending the right message? Never drink, just like I never drink?
What do you think?
Many people, when I ask this question tell me that Pastors could NEVER drink in public because they hold a higher standard. Okay, fine, I can see that. However, who in church leadership is being the example of a moderate drinker? What, nobody in church drinks? Is the congregation left to decide how much is too much? Is drinking against the church rules? The bible doesn't say never drink ever, never, ever. So, Pastor so-n-so sending the right message? Never drink, just like I never drink?
What do you think?
Even though . . .
. . .I loathe Matchbox Twenty, I have to admit I like their new song "Let's see how far they've come". It's catchy and the lyrics seem to be an anthem for how most soul searchers feel.
Cue making fun of me . . .now.
Cue making fun of me . . .now.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Built on sand
Jenny and I watched Facing the Giants on a couple months ago. I started posting a blog about this and she felt like it was too negative. Perhaps she was right. I still felt like there was something very wrong about this movie and still felt like I had something to say about it. Then my friend Dayton sent me this article from CCM patrol about how Christians can't see or deal with art(or in the article's case movies) unless it's a Thomas Kinkade's piece of crap painting.
I did some more digging around and found this posting about someone who was offended by the website for bagging on really bad Christian music.
Building Each Other Up
POSTED BY Stewart Lundy Wednesday September 26, 2007
A reader alerted us to this post, written by a forum administrator at CMCentral:
In regard to the CCM Patrol thing, no company is perfect. CCM Patrol isn’t perfect either. I totally disagree with CCM Patrol’s attitude toward everything. What benefit is it to say disparaging remarks about Christian bands/ministries/websites? There is no benefit in that. All it does is create division amongst believers and opens huge gaps for Satan to attack community and weaknesses.
There are problems with Contemporary Music Today. I agree. There are problems with the way it’s covered. I agree. But…by focusing on those problems and magnifying them, it doesn’t really promote God’s Kingdom.
Things you should know about me: I don’t appreciate disrespect. I don’t appreciate disunion or any attitudes/behaviors that contribute to disunion.
I’m not saying this to come down on you, Waltrane. Not at all. I’m not saying you’re disrespecting me, either, just to clarify. I just took something that your post had mentioned and expanded on it because it included a reference to CCM Patrol.
Build each other up.
The sentiment is good, perhaps even divine… but while we’re speaking in terms of construction, we can’t avoid speaking in terms of foundations. Without getting too theologically adventurous, I think it is safe to say the Christ is the cornerstone. And most people would agree that building on sand is a bad idea.
And many things are built on sinking sand. Perhaps they’re political ideologies, musical agendas, or the The CCM Patrol itself. But whatever the case, Christ called us to build people up. He did not call us to build up errant ideas or cultural constructs.
If a brother is constructing a building on a quagmire, it is our duty to call him on his mistake.
Instruction’s goal is to destruct falsehoods and construct truths. You can’t do one without the other, and considering the absurd amount of popular “construction,” the The CCM Patrol is justified in its mission to destruct bad reviews and construct accurate reviews. There cannot be a good foundation without removing the bad foundation first.
A bad foundation deserves to be tested, and criticized. However much we may constitutionally sympathize with pluralism, liberalism, and postmodernism, indiscriminate tolerance is not possible for anyone who believes in an object qualitative hierarchy.
In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas. (“In necessary things unity; in uncertain things freedom; in everything compassion.”)
I’m sorry, but there is a necessary disunion between quality and refuse. Read our positive reviews. I love good godly music a lot more than I hate bad pseudo-spiritual music. Compassion? Take what we say with a grain of salt. We may be music snobs, but we are music snobs with a noble goal. First and foremost, we at the The CCM Patrol want GOOD music! I would love to give nothing but positive reviews, but…
There is good music and there is bad music. Music created by Christians tends to be baptized by the church and the Christian press for simply being Christian. If the Christian music were capable of self-reflection, the The CCM Patrol would not need to be nearly as critical. In fact, I hope that this can happen someday—when the music Christians produce is introspective and thoughtful it won’t need to be patrolled by an outside force. The music industry needs checks and balances. If they refuse to make them internally, we’ll supply them externally.
This article prompted me to pull out my review of FACING THE GIANTS. I finally feel justified for thinking it's a GIANT piece of crap . . .ERRRR built on a quagmire.
I did some more digging around and found this posting about someone who was offended by the website for bagging on really bad Christian music.
Building Each Other Up
POSTED BY Stewart Lundy Wednesday September 26, 2007
A reader alerted us to this post, written by a forum administrator at CMCentral:
In regard to the CCM Patrol thing, no company is perfect. CCM Patrol isn’t perfect either. I totally disagree with CCM Patrol’s attitude toward everything. What benefit is it to say disparaging remarks about Christian bands/ministries/websites? There is no benefit in that. All it does is create division amongst believers and opens huge gaps for Satan to attack community and weaknesses.
There are problems with Contemporary Music Today. I agree. There are problems with the way it’s covered. I agree. But…by focusing on those problems and magnifying them, it doesn’t really promote God’s Kingdom.
Things you should know about me: I don’t appreciate disrespect. I don’t appreciate disunion or any attitudes/behaviors that contribute to disunion.
I’m not saying this to come down on you, Waltrane. Not at all. I’m not saying you’re disrespecting me, either, just to clarify. I just took something that your post had mentioned and expanded on it because it included a reference to CCM Patrol.
Build each other up.
The sentiment is good, perhaps even divine… but while we’re speaking in terms of construction, we can’t avoid speaking in terms of foundations. Without getting too theologically adventurous, I think it is safe to say the Christ is the cornerstone. And most people would agree that building on sand is a bad idea.
And many things are built on sinking sand. Perhaps they’re political ideologies, musical agendas, or the The CCM Patrol itself. But whatever the case, Christ called us to build people up. He did not call us to build up errant ideas or cultural constructs.
If a brother is constructing a building on a quagmire, it is our duty to call him on his mistake.
Instruction’s goal is to destruct falsehoods and construct truths. You can’t do one without the other, and considering the absurd amount of popular “construction,” the The CCM Patrol is justified in its mission to destruct bad reviews and construct accurate reviews. There cannot be a good foundation without removing the bad foundation first.
A bad foundation deserves to be tested, and criticized. However much we may constitutionally sympathize with pluralism, liberalism, and postmodernism, indiscriminate tolerance is not possible for anyone who believes in an object qualitative hierarchy.
In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas. (“In necessary things unity; in uncertain things freedom; in everything compassion.”)
I’m sorry, but there is a necessary disunion between quality and refuse. Read our positive reviews. I love good godly music a lot more than I hate bad pseudo-spiritual music. Compassion? Take what we say with a grain of salt. We may be music snobs, but we are music snobs with a noble goal. First and foremost, we at the The CCM Patrol want GOOD music! I would love to give nothing but positive reviews, but…
There is good music and there is bad music. Music created by Christians tends to be baptized by the church and the Christian press for simply being Christian. If the Christian music were capable of self-reflection, the The CCM Patrol would not need to be nearly as critical. In fact, I hope that this can happen someday—when the music Christians produce is introspective and thoughtful it won’t need to be patrolled by an outside force. The music industry needs checks and balances. If they refuse to make them internally, we’ll supply them externally.
This article prompted me to pull out my review of FACING THE GIANTS. I finally feel justified for thinking it's a GIANT piece of crap . . .ERRRR built on a quagmire.
My review of Facing the Giants
If you haven't seen this movie, here's the short of it.
Christian football Coach, down on his luck, prays in the middle of trees and converts everyone in the town to believe in Jesus. Oh yeah, they wins the final game against the bad guys. I would not suggest watching this movie. Rent the Remember the Titans instead.
For anyone whose has seen this movie and really loved it, I have a question for you: Who was this movie marketed to? This was a "Christian" movie that made it into secular theaters and, in my not-so-humble-opinion, isolated non-believers and essentially gave them the finger. The movie used church language, had an unrealistic view of how quickly God decides to answer prayer (What? God's answer can't be NO?), and allows the viewers who don't put their kids in public school to imagine what the "real world" is like. Tell me, is the real world truly some kid telling another about Jesus, then that kid in turn gets everyone in class to come out to the football field and have bible studies?
Now, you could argue, "Hey Phil, are you trying to say that this could never happen?" No. In fact, it would be awesome if something like this did happen. But, I have never heard of something like this happening and if you could tell me a story about a similar situation you've had that even remotely relates to this idea, I will shut the *$#k up.
If you want your movie to be encouraging, write something everyone can relate to. And if you are going to make a movie that speaks a language that the secular world does not understand, don't put it out in theaters. Put it up in your church and invited believers to share in this most unrealistic occurrence of events. Just wait, soon there will be a movie that says no Christians have sex before marriage and, as they tell others this, every college student abstains from sex until they get married. Oh, and they have bible studies on the football field.
Is there even such a thing as "Christian" films? If it doesn't deal in real life the concept seems absurd.
Christian football Coach, down on his luck, prays in the middle of trees and converts everyone in the town to believe in Jesus. Oh yeah, they wins the final game against the bad guys. I would not suggest watching this movie. Rent the Remember the Titans instead.
For anyone whose has seen this movie and really loved it, I have a question for you: Who was this movie marketed to? This was a "Christian" movie that made it into secular theaters and, in my not-so-humble-opinion, isolated non-believers and essentially gave them the finger. The movie used church language, had an unrealistic view of how quickly God decides to answer prayer (What? God's answer can't be NO?), and allows the viewers who don't put their kids in public school to imagine what the "real world" is like. Tell me, is the real world truly some kid telling another about Jesus, then that kid in turn gets everyone in class to come out to the football field and have bible studies?
Now, you could argue, "Hey Phil, are you trying to say that this could never happen?" No. In fact, it would be awesome if something like this did happen. But, I have never heard of something like this happening and if you could tell me a story about a similar situation you've had that even remotely relates to this idea, I will shut the *$#k up.
If you want your movie to be encouraging, write something everyone can relate to. And if you are going to make a movie that speaks a language that the secular world does not understand, don't put it out in theaters. Put it up in your church and invited believers to share in this most unrealistic occurrence of events. Just wait, soon there will be a movie that says no Christians have sex before marriage and, as they tell others this, every college student abstains from sex until they get married. Oh, and they have bible studies on the football field.
Is there even such a thing as "Christian" films? If it doesn't deal in real life the concept seems absurd.
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